Podcast Guest Solicitation Transcription
Wait, what? Really? Okay. With your host, Loren Weisman. This is a fully licensed theme song for the show about stuff that makes you say wait, what? Really? Hi, this is Loren Weisman and we made those excuses when we were school. The dog ate my homework. Well, today the dog ate my editor. I apologize for any off, off the cuff resonating sounds. I don’t have the normal editing here, but I do have a normal show. This is the brand messaging podcast. Wait, what? Really? Okay, I’m your host, Loren Weisman, and today we’re going to talk about podcasts. How about that? A podcast about a podcast. The title of this episode is Podcast Guest Soliciting and Podcast Host Booking Tactics. A culmination of about five sources, both in the US and in Europe have stated that as of September 2020, there are 1 million podcasts out there. Yes, it does feel like a lot of people, maybe not everyone, but a lot of people are podcasting and it’s been happening for a while now. At the same time, bringing the authenticity through in the messaging, the authority through in the messaging. There are a lot of issues that have been rising up and are rising even higher from the standpoint of the people hosting and the podcasters themselves, as well as the people that are trying to become guests on these podcasts. That’s what we’re going to hit today, both sides of the coin, and talk a little bit about being a guest. We’re going to talk a little bit about being a host and the ways to stand out. This also includes the ways to bury yourself. I get a fair amount of emails and the structure of them, the impersonal template, the I’m sending these to 50,000 people, or for that matter, maybe a million. It doesn’t really excite me and it doesn’t make me want to bring these people that are sending these template pre written letters that have no personalization to them onto the show. I don’t have that many guests on. Wait, what? Really? Okay, I do like to have the guests, but it’s got to be something where it’s authentic, it’s got the authority, and it has something relating to the show, the topic and the audience. And that hits right to the number one point. Are you creating a show for popularity? Is this about true authority and authenticity or is it a show about a popularity? And it’s fine if it is about popularity, but be truthful to yourself, be truthful to others. I see these people with business podcasts, entrepreneur podcasts, and they are just out there attacking for every guest, talking about Every trend, anything to get listening ears so that they can either do their advertising or get their numbers up. To me and to a lot of other people, it doesn’t feel like a show that has any continuity, that has any flow, that has any organic messaging. And that’s fine if that’s what you’re about. Be that. But for these people that are saying authority, these people that are using the word authenticity, and I wish more people would step away from using the word authenticity and just being authentic. If you’re having a certain show and you want to get on a certain guest or you have an opportunity, how does that guest tie into you? How does that guest tie into the flow, the show and everything that you’re doing? Because if it doesn’t, maybe that’s not the guest for you in the long run. We have so many people out there, so many podcasters that are jumping, I need this, I need this. I need this person. This person is hot. I’m going to email them. I get these emails. And this is hitting in the authenticity and the truth, the first section here of what you’re saying about your podcast. So I’m sorry, I get it. You’re on iHeart and you have the range of potentially 40 million listeners. That doesn’t mean you have a 40 million listener audience. And when I see that on the top of solicitation letters to me, I press delete. Just because somebody can turn on your show and you’re distributed somewhere makes up nothing to do with the metrics of your audience. It shows your reach. That’s great. If you have reach and Maybe you’re on iHeart and Amazon Music and Pandora and Apple and Spreaker and Stitcher and all of those things. But I would rather be on a show or if somebody sent me something and a lot of other professionals feel this way too. I’d rather be on a show where someone is being authentic, being honest, being transparent. Hey, my show is new. This is the fifth episode I’m about to do. I’ve got it distributed to these places. I’m growing an audience. I’m not really there. That’s something that I respond to. And you might be surprised that a lot of other people will respond to that a lot quicker than when you sit there and state, I have this multi million reach because I’m here, here, here, here and here. You know this is an iHeartRadio podcast. No, you’re on iHeartRadio at the same time you’re on Pandora and you can sign up and it doesn’t cost anything. Some of these people that put out this stuff, like, ooh, I’m on this site, or I’m on that site, I’m on Pandora. The thing that I posted once Pandora picked me up was I’m no Joe Rogan. I don’t have Joe Rogan’s numbers. But if you like Pandora and that’s where you like to listen to your podcast, I’m available there. I chose a route of stating, okay, here I am and I’m on this place, but here’s how you can find me. And not saying all of a sudden I’m some massive player on Pandora, because I’m not. And I’m not on iheart either. And I’m not. I’m not a major player anywhere. I’ve got a lot of distribution. Wait, what? Really, okay. Is in the better part of 50 major distributors and there’s some great listenership, but it’s not something to brag about. When I share about the podcast, it’s sharing about probably the top number of places where you can find me, where people are finding podcasts. But then it goes into the root and the message of what this podcast is about. About messaging, about optics. That’s the focus, it’s not the stuff. And the same thing with the authors award winning New York Times bestseller. You know, I’m also blown away that podcasters will put out and put in their leads and even in their profiles inside of LinkedIn, how many downloads they’ve had of their podcast. Fictional people have downloads. People. There are video game players that play a video game and it’s the major part of the screen. In the lower part, they’re there doing commentary and on Twitch and some of these other sites and they have millions of followers and millions. Your amount and your pop popularity number doesn’t necessarily showcase your authority. So to the podcast hosts, to the podcasters, consider putting a focus on what your show is about, why you talk this way, what you look for in a guest. Because right now, if you’re just getting that popular guest, why do they want to be a part of you? Why do they want to connect with you? And yes, on the opposite side, there are guests that want to be on every single show possible. And that’s the second point. And flipping over to this is for the guests, but also at the same time for the podcasters, if somebody is out there on every single show and they’re not testing the waters to see what the authenticity of that show is, is that helping or hurting? Some people say, you know, all marketing is good marketing. But if your voice seems to be out there just spamming that you’re on this podcast and that podcast and the next podcast and this podcast, and really it’s just the same thing, how does that ignite your audience to pay attention? I don’t share for every podcast that I’m on. I don’t share for many of the podcasts that I’m on. I’ll go on to be a guest. When I’m asked to be a guest, I’m happy to be a guest if I see something authentic. If I think I can bring something to the conversation, it’s not ego, but it’s stating, okay, what’s going on. And then at the end of that show, was this something that would impact my present audience? If not, it might be something I don’t share because they’ve already heard it before. Why should I force. And why should you force any of your audiences to pretty much hit the same cookie cutter stuff? If I go onto a particular show and they dive into the ghost drumming and then they dive into the transition of where I went from music into brand messaging and to what I’m doing now, and if it’s the same stuff and there’s not something new there, it doesn’t really entice me to share it with the audience. And it shouldn’t necessarily be an expectation. If I’m being invited on and somebody wants to have a conversation about brand messaging, I’m there with them. Unless there’s flat out stating, and those are shows I’m not interested in. This is a cross promotion thing and I expect this and you do this and blah, blah, blah, but those aren’t really my thing. And when we can sit here and look at our shows and look at the guests that you may want to bring on and figure out what is a way to set a tone and a tempo to allow that guest to say, you know what, I really do want to share this out. This is a different interview, or is it the same old one? I’m not for these little podcast flashcards. There’s a low hanging fruit product out there, a couple of them. Here are questions to ask on your podcast. And I see them because I get asked the same questions and they’re saying, hey, here’s our little unique time and we’re going to ask you about this. I’ve heard it before. So what draws interest and then at the same time does that exhaust the listener and they just move on? It is the authenticity in your show. It’s the theme. It’s whether you’re going after a guest and saying, hey, I’m thinking about doing this. I’d love to interview you and talk about these things, maybe even asking in that question, in that email, in that solicitation, is there anything you want to go over? Is there something you’re tired of talking about? Is there something you feel like you haven’t had the chance to talk about? What a great approach to go to a guest to wake them up. When I receive emails like that, is there anything, not just what do you want to market, is there anything out there you’d love to discuss that lights me up in a positive way? It’s wow, this person cares. This person wants to have a discussion. This can be. Again, it becomes conversations of engagement over just this forced and overly dominant. And then the marketing of some of these podcasts, the ones that come out on Monday, just out don’t forget to listen Wednesday. Oh, did you. In case you forgot, Monday, it was this pushing, pushing all week and that constant pressure and pushing until the following week and the next episode and the same thing comes up again. If you would consider reading in between the lines of the rant, and it’s not an attack on anybody, but think about what traits, what characteristics, what tones that while the intention may be true to heart for you to have that authentic show, that perception wise, you might be knocking out and it might be turning people off and turning people away in thinking about that, in that humility, it can be a better show. And at the same time, on the other side of it, becoming that better guest, not sending some letter that is just. And this is the one that bothers me the most. I would be a great guest on your show. Here’s all the stuff about me. Why don’t you share from a guest standpoint, why don’t you share why you would be a great guest for that show? Not in the ego of your own authority, but what you bring to a conversation. Sometimes I’ll leave an email back. I’d be a great fit for your show. All right. Why? What show did you like? When did you make that decision? So you read the byline, you read the taglines, the one liner, and you made that decision. Did you listen to anything? I mean, there was a time when I was maybe not as nice and I said, oh, did you listen to the episode where this thing happened and we talked about this dog that did that? Because that, that, you know, that was really funny. Oh, yeah, well, I know you’re lying because that never happened. So as that Guest and not just out there with this spam, self pushy promotion thing, but being able to take the time and say, you know what, scope out those shows, see where your reputation stands. It’s not just getting every single show that you can, but getting out to the places that might be best. And some of the places that might be best, they might not even have the largest listenership numbers or counts, but it becomes a great interview that in turn you may want to share to your audiences what we talked about before. The idea of an interview that you weren’t expecting that allowed you to talk about things you don’t normally get to talk about. And then it’s something there that you’re streaming or embedding on your website to reach out and be able to get a sense of someone. I mean, when somebody asked me onto a show, I want to take a minute and say, all right, what’s this show about? What’s the vibe? What will we talk about? To have just a little bit of time and not just feel like I’m sitting there, that they’re thinking, okay, well we’re going to grab his audience or we’re just going to fill time. I don’t want to fill someone’s time. You shouldn’t want to fill someone’s time. If you’re going for the authenticity, if you’re going for the authority, then make that podcast social, make it authentic, make it authoritative, make it true so that conversations can happen. And inside of that content, it may connect people to your thinking and not just another infomercial. And I know like we said before, so you got a million podcasts out there and on that top level, a lot of them are just infinite infomercials. I see these people coming on and they’ll spend more time selling what they have to sell. Their book, their course, their certification, their this, their boom, boom, boom. It’s all about them than really sitting there and sharing about their authority and authenticity. One of my lines, when people contact me or when I’ve contacted people, I’ll say I have nothing to sell. I have nothing to sell. If inside of a conversation, a real, true, organic, authentic conversation, someone is not from there led to find out more, then why should I be spending most of that time selling? And maybe it’s a conversation that I can learn from or get a question I wasn’t expecting. When we take this other side of podcast to authenticity, we can grow our messaging, we can understand our yes, the intention. Get out there, get out there, get out there. But maybe it’s to get out there, to connect with the right people, to not necessarily be on the million subscription podcast, but maybe the guy that’s only got a hundred because it was a great conversation for him or her, it was a great conversation for you. And maybe you walked away with some content ideas that then you can create for your podcast or a video or a different way to communicate that you hadn’t communicated to your audience before. This comes into a different level. It’s not just etiquette, it’s honor. It’s not, okay, we’re going to turn off all the other things and we’re going to close the other windows and we’re going to make sure this and that. There’s a lot inside of podcast etiquette. Make sure your answers are under three minutes. Wow, I saw this one article. Make sure your answers are under three minutes. If you’re on my podcast and you’re talking for three minutes straight, I’m not putting it up. It’s conversations. It’s back and forth. Yes, there are some interview formats and that might be different, but when they put out this one set rule, and here’s how you’re supposed to be, does that really fit you? Does that really fit your story inside of this? To take it to that other level of almost tactical, of almost strategic, look at where you might want to go, look at where something could resonate. Look at other. Listen to other podcasts. Who was on. I had put a pitch out. It was a cold pitch to someone where they had a pretty big star on, and they talked about something that tied into messaging. And the email that I sent was, I saw this come through Facebook. I went in and listened to the episode about a week later. I loved what so and so said about this. I feel this, this, and this. And I believe this can be part of the conversation as well. Here’s my information. I’d love to be considered for a guest if you are continuing on this topic. And all the best, the call came a day later. It’s the same thing in how we reach out and make it much more personalized. Take a second to listen to that podcast. If you don’t have a second, you need to take. You say, I need to take 20 seconds and I need to solicit 20 podcasts and boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Well, good luck. Or do you take those extra couple minutes and really sift through and figure out where the best places are for you to be, for you to communicate, for you to represent yourself, your authority, your authenticity? Take a little bit more Time to honor your reputation and where you are and not just being the, that, that real estate, you know, crazy Salesman. I’m available 24 7. I don’t want a real estate agent that claims to be a family man or family woman that’s available 24 7, because then that means it’s just all everybody else. And it’s not about their family in the same way. It’s the same thing with podcasts. You might not want to be on every single one. And then getting to the point of payment, this is. You could, you could go into this for hours. There’s so many things. We’re just going to keep it at the authenticity. We’re going to keep it. The personalization from the host to the guest to the guest to the host. But then this payment thing, I’ve been contacted and I, I reached out. No, no, I hadn’t been contacted. I contacted this one person and they said they talked about this authority and authenticity podcast. These are two words that mean a lot to me. Not just the words, but what’s behind them. And so we had this great conversation for about a half hour and the host was thrilled and it felt like a great conversation. Then she began to explain what I had to pay her to be on her show. And I don’t pay to be on shows, and I don’t believe you should either. And then as I’m listening and I’m reading through her stuff and I’m checking her numbers, which. That was what she wanted paid against what she’s reaching. Absolutely not. For one, that arrogance was a turn off. Second off, when she’s stating there, I seek out these people and I make sure to find these people and these kind of people. People to share with you. Because this is what I’m doing authentically and transparently. No, it’s not transparent. She has a system and a situation where she gets people to buy onto her show so she can make that kind of money so that she’s hitting to a smaller audience. And it’s the same problem with some of these speaking conferences. Not to go too far into another direction, but certain people that you see on stage, certain people that you see in these virtual rooms, in these virtual meetings, they paid to be viewed as experts. And there are many that are not experts, that don’t have the authenticity, that don’t have the authority, and they’re in the room. There was a virtual group. I popped in there just to see what was going on and then popped out. I got an email from a woman. Can I get on the phone with you? Sure. We’d love you to be one of the speakers and one of the people leading inside of this room. Okay, here’s what we charge. And that immediately became a turn off. So I have to market and that she would put people in there that have their marketing dollars to appear to be more than they are. So don’t pay to be on a podcast. Is it really that beneficial? And really, would you turn around and want to state, hey, I paid for this positioning. Is that something you want to share with those clients? Oh, this is going to get me in front of this many people. Are you sure? Are that many people really tuned in? Is that conversion really happening? And could that money be used organically and authentically somewhere else? So I’m against the whole. I was against pay for play to a certain extent in music. I’m definitely against pay to play or pay to guest on these podcasts. I’m going to circle around and wrap it up again. The core ideas here, this could be an episode that could go on for hours to go through step by step. But the thing is, when you begin to think with authenticity, when you think with the aspect of where the authority is and where it isn’t, the humility to be able to say, you know what, maybe I’m pushing something a little too hard. Maybe I’m not quite there yet. And maybe if I’m putting this out and somebody is doing their due diligence to check me out, they’re going to shut me down and close that contact for any time in the future. I’m against some of those business coaches and gurus that say, make 20 calls a day and tell them this and tell them you’re going to do this and you’ll build up and then you’ll learn how to be able to do that, I wouldn’t want to trust somebody doing that to me. Would you want to trust somebody doing that to you? And at the same time, if you’re trying to present yourself as more a door and they find out you’re not, a door can be shut. When you present yourself as you are, what you’re doing, how you’re growing even more, doors can be opened. Look at it from the standpoint, whether it’s guest soliciting or host booking or both, how can you come off with the authority, true authority, transparent authority, what you are, where you are in that moment, not pretending, not embellishing, because the people that are not, the people that are going to be turned away by that, you might not necessarily want Them on your show and the people that are going to be attracted to that, they could be some of your best new conversations and best connections. At the same time, think from the perception, not just the intention. You get the intention of your heart. The guest. I want to just get out here and for these people, I want to help. I want to help. I want to help. Are you able to help? And are you able to help? There’s certain shows, it’s just not going to make sense to go on. It’s certain shows that just. It’s not bothering. There’s a branding show and they call themselves brand. It’s a brand messaging strategy show. And the quote that I saw from this individual was, branding is about how you make other people feel. No. Okay. Now going to the perception and going to one off, I think that’s a subjective statement and I believe it to be wrong. But where am I going to be a good guest for that person if I was to go on that show and contradict them? I had a guy, it was a music show. I was completely against morally, ethically, professionally, his approach. And he was really, for whatever reason, upset that I wouldn’t come on. And I explained to him, I said, I disagree with you on these things and I’m open for debate. I love debates. But it was. I was everything I was about everything that this guy was not. It was the pure opposite. And it was strange because he said he read my book, he loved my book on music, and he follows my book, yet everything that he puts out is exactly the polar opposite. So I said to him, I said, you don’t want me on the show. I’m going to be a terrible guest. I’m going to contradict you. I’m going to hit you with certain objective things. There’s a lot of proven fact I can show that goes against these facts that you’re claiming that aren’t true. So why have me on? He pushed, he went to insulting. It ended up. Fortunately, I had to block him. It was just. It was a weird conversation. And again, I don’t mind debate, but it wasn’t a good place for me to be. It wouldn’t have been a good place for him to have me. We can go to. And this becomes the last part. I’m sorry, before going to the last part, we can go to the perception. We should go to the perception. How is this going to be read? Are we going to go on to a show where. And some of these shows are out there where they’re going to ridicule and mock. And maybe sometimes that can be fun, but other times it doesn’t work so well. Understanding beyond the intention of what you’re trying to do or what you’re trying to say or why you’re trying to say it, understand the perception that it may be seen differently. And that goes to the booking, and that goes so heavily into the tactics for what you wrote and why you wanted to be on that show in that template that you created, or maybe you bought from one of these podcasting professionals, maybe a thousand other people sent that exact same letter and said that exact same thing. So there becomes one of your differentiators. And lastly, one of the best tactics is differentiating the subjective from the objective to be able to go on and clarify when it’s a fact and when it’s an opinion. The subjective guest that can sit there and play it from the angle, or, I’m sorry, even better, perform it from the angle of this is what I see, this is why I see it, this is what I believe. And then being very careful that if you’re going to state a fact, you have the ammunition to back that thing up as a fact, because there are so many podcasters out there, they lay claim, they make a claim, it could be an opinion, they shift it to fact, and it’s just going to end up being an argument. When you’re able to balance that and even while you’re on those shows, to be able to, okay, I see where you’re coming from. This is what I understand, this is what I’ve learned. This is why I’ve come to this point. Not trying to win, not trying to win a conversation, but trying to create conversations is going to create more engagement, even if you. You’re debating. So in the end here, the tactics come down to the authentic, the authority in you, the subjective and the objective, and then the intention and the perception. Think about it. Whether you’re reaching out to try to get on a show, whether you’re reaching out to try to get somebody else on your show, think that maybe they’ve had a hundred people that day send the exact same thing or say the exact same thing. So how do you state some. Something that is part of your story, your messaging, your differential? Do you have interview information sheets? I mean, this is again, for another show. Do you have a podcast sheet or a page that can send them and not just say, oh, go listen to these. But maybe a nice sample, a nice sample thing that cuts in and cuts out. Can you invite these people? And at the same time, for the guest. Can you send them to different videos? Can you send them to different places? Quick snippets so they can get a sense of you quickly and then choose if they want to learn more or take more time with you. And that closes with the humility of it. Lead with you, not the numbers. I have 20 million followers. I have a New York Times bestseller. I have all these things. Consider leading. I mean, you want to add that in and buffer that in somewhere, by all means do so, if that feels good. But lead with your authenticity. Lead with your humility. Lead with who you are, what you are, what your show is about, in this ability to reach out and connect and communicate. Stop showing off and try sharing with other people to see where a new conversation could begin, a new show, a new level of engagement, a new audience, and doing it in an authentic, organic way than just trying to get out there and get your name out there and your website and your product on every page possible. Taking that authentic approach showcases that much more authority and showcases that much more true engagement and opportunity than just being that overly dominant, overly pushy, overly selly and lacking in true authority and lacking in true authenticity. That shift in your voice, that shift in your tone, your temperature and your delivery with the consideration of all the other things that are being delivered to the people. It will help you stand out. It will open doors, and it will open opportunities for more conversations, more interviews, more podcasts, more media as a whole. Think about that before you pitch to a guest. Think about that as a guest, before you pitch to a host, and think about that before any conversation inside the authenticity, the authority, the subjective, the objective, the intention, the perception. And then join a conversation as opposed to trying to get someone to give you a conversation that you just take over. Wait, What? Really? Ok.